Volume One, Chapter 33: Adventure

Pang Qingquan’s breathing over the phone sounded like a wheezing, dilapidated bellows. "What kind of nonsense are you spouting? The man is slipping right under our noses! We have sufficient grounds to go in and tear that place apart! If I call off the operation now, how am I supposed to answer to my superiors?"

"If your men storm in and turn that scrap yard upside down, what do you think you’ll find?" Du Yuze’s tone remained flat. "A transmitter that can be remotely wiped, some cash, maybe a few disposable burner phones. And then what?"

"Then I’ll cuff him to a chair in the interrogation room! I don’t believe I can’t pry his mouth open!"

"He doesn't know anything," Du Yuze stated firmly. "He is merely the end of the chain, a tool responsible for pressing buttons. If you arrest him, the real fish will sink to the bottom forever. They will sever all ties, switch to a brand-new channel, and we won’t even be able to prove they existed."

A tense silence hung on the other end of the line, broken only by the hiss of static. Pang Qingquan was weighing his options rapidly. He was a seasoned hunter, accustomed to trusting his instincts and established protocols. Now, however, someone much younger than him was rejecting his entire operational plan in a way he couldn't comprehend.

"Why are you so sure?" Pang Qingquan’s challenge carried a hint of hesitation.

*[Analyzing residual encrypted information from data packets... Embedded instructions discovered.]*

*[Instruction type: Data destruction. Trigger condition: Device goes offline or loses main network connection for more than thirty minutes. Execution method: Instantaneous overload of onboard capacitors to incinerate the core storage chip.]*

"Because of the tea tin he threw away," Du Yuze said. "That wasn't to toy with us; it was a signal. A signal for us, and a signal for his handler. He was effectively saying: 'The police are here, they're professional, they’ve locked onto me, but I’ve successfully transmitted the goods.' Using an empty tea tin, he tested the level of your surveillance while simultaneously completing the handover. If you storm in now, you’ll walk right into his trap."

Li Weiguo listened from the side, his brows furrowed into a knot. He didn't understand the talk about signals and fish, but he could sense the gravity of it. He wiped the cooled connecting rod in his hands once more, the pale workshop lights reflecting off every groove on its surface.

"This is too risky," Pang Qingquan said. "My duty is to eliminate threats, not play hide-and-seek with spies."

"Then eliminate the real threat," Du Yuze pressed. "Director Pang, your men are still outside the scrap yard, aren't they? Have them check the electric meter there right now. Is it still running?"

The faint sound of Pang Qingquan barking orders to his subordinates came through the phone. Seconds later, his voice returned, clear and sharp: "It’s running. Damn it, the thing is still active!"

"It’s waiting for new instructions, or executing a purge. Your equipment failed to intercept a valid signal because the actual communication is instantaneous, measured in milliseconds. The rest of the time, it poses as a common appliance, emitting meaningless background noise." Du Yuze had to reveal some technical details that could be understood. "If your men cut the power now, its backup battery will kick in. In thirty minutes, that chip—smaller than a fingernail—will be nothing but carbon ash. You will get nothing."

Those words were the final straw. Pang Qingquan’s professional expertise told him that this scorched-earth tactic was a hallmark of top-tier intelligence agencies. The case in his hands had completely transcended the scope of mere industrial espionage.

"...What should I do?" For the first time, there was a hint of appeal in Pang Qingquan's voice.

"Have the surveillance team at the scrap yard pull back and switch to long-range observation; just ensure no one goes in to tamper with the scene. Put all your elite forces on Liu Quan," Du Yuze’s reasoning was crystal clear. "He has sent the intelligence; what is the next step? Collecting payment or receiving a new mission. He will definitely move. We are waiting for the moment he goes to 'trade'."

"Catch them red-handed?" Pang Qingquan grasped the point immediately.

"Exactly. We don't want Liu Quan; we want the line behind him. Only at the transaction site can we potentially capture another live contact or intercept new intelligence," Du Yuze said. "The arrest must be synchronized. The moment your men apprehend Liu Quan and his contact, another team must storm the scrap yard to physically disconnect that device, ensuring it has no chance to self-destruct. We need the data inside, even if it’s just fragments."

"I understand," Pang Qingquan’s voice returned to a calm state. "I’ll redeploy now. Can you... provide technical support? For instance, predicting his likely meeting point."

*[Beginning behavioral modeling based on target's logic and city database...]*

*[Searching Liu Quan's movement trajectory over the past week... Analyzing...]*

*[High-frequency activity areas: Old town vegetable market, riverside park, western suburb book wholesale market.]*

*[Comprehensive assessment: Riverside park has a 67% probability as a dead drop point; the vegetable market is crowded, with a 21% probability favoring cash transactions...]*

"The old town," Du Yuze blurted out. "It’s crowded, with many blind spots in surveillance, perfect for covert contact. Especially that riverside park—it has plenty of benches and hidden trash cans. It’s an ideal location for a dead drop."

"Good. I’m sending two teams over."

"Remember, do not alert him until the transaction is complete," Du Yuze warned. "The bait has been cast; the fish we’re catching is the one that takes it."

He hung up. The workshop was left with only the hum of the machine tool’s cooling fan.

Li Weiguo walked over and shoved the flawless connecting rod into his hand. "Go get some rest. The things in your head are more complex than the parts in my machines."

Du Yuze held the metal component; it had a solid weight. This was the heart of the "Dragon Sparrow," the skeleton of the JY1. He couldn't imagine the consequences if these things fell into enemy hands.

"Old Li," he asked, "why do you think someone would betray all this?"

Li Weiguo paused, then snorted, spitting out a blade of grass he had been chewing. "Money, women, or... just plain evil. Some people have rotten bones. You could give them a mountain of gold, and they’d still think the grass is greener in someone else’s bowl."

He patted Du Yuze on the shoulder. "Don't think about it. It’s a waste of time. We just do our jobs well. Build these wings tougher, even tougher, until they’re so strong that no wind can break them."

Du Yuze’s private phone vibrated.

He picked it up. It was an encrypted text from an unknown number, but he recognized the protocol. It was sent by Pang Qingquan via an unofficial channel.

The content was simple.

*Target has left the scrap yard. Riding a bicycle, heading east along Jianshe Road.*

In Du Yuze’s mind, the city map surfaced once again. Jianshe Road east led straight to the old town.

He quickly replied with two words.

*Follow him.*

The atmosphere in Pang Qingquan’s command vehicle was heavy. Several technicians were typing furiously at their keyboards, pulling up municipal surveillance along the route.

"Team One, report position!"

"Target is at the intersection of Jianshe Road and Renmin Road. Speed is very slow."

"What about Team Two?"

"We are eight hundred meters ahead of him, already in a favorable position."

Pang Qingquan gripped the walkie-talkie, his palms slick with sweat. "Listen to me: keep your distance, don’t lose him, and for God’s sake, don’t get spotted! If he slips away this time, every single one of you is going to the logistics department to raise pigs!"

On the screen, the small, thin figure on a dilapidated bicycle, looking like an ordinary citizen off work, slowly disappeared into a corner void of surveillance.

"Target lost!" a technician shouted.

Pang Qingquan’s heart sank.

"Don't panic," the voice of Team One's leader came through the radio. "He entered the riverside park. Our men have already entered from the other side. He can't get away."

In the park, Liu Quan stopped his bike, locked it, and walked unhurriedly to a bench in a corner to sit down. He took a pack of cheap cigarettes from his pocket, lit one, and squinted at the reflection of the sunset on the river.

He looked like an ordinary retired man killing a boring afternoon.

On the roof of a residential building hundreds of meters away, an observer locked onto him through high-powered binoculars.

"Target is seated. No abnormal movements."

Pang Qingquan stared at the park layout on the screen, where blue dots representing his team members were silently forming a net from all directions.

He waited.

He waited for the other fish to appear.